Zarubain

Nation
Motto: “For Lady, King and Country!”Seat:ZarubadGovernment: Absolute MonarchyReigning Monarch: King Jourmande vis BretagneDating System: Waking Year (W.Y.) about 126 years ahead of the Imperial dating system (Y.E.)

Zarubain is a kingdom in the north of the Western Nations, a feudal and largely agrarian society with a rigid social hierarchy. At the top is the King of Zarubain, followed by the dukes and the great lords and ladies. At the bottom are the peasants and the free men of the great towns, followed by the elven slaves which are considered the scum of the earth.

Crisscrossed by rivers and possessing rich, abundant farmland, it comes as no surprise that Zarubain is the most densely populated country in the Northern World. Only the metropolises of the Empire surpass the size of the Royal City, Zarubad.

The human population is vast, but living alongside them are the Fair Folk. These are seen only by the most powerful of the fey priestesses, who claim that Zarubain is the domain of the Winter Court. The queen of the fairies, Feanara, is worshipped as the chief goddess and beloved by the knights of the realm. Many stories are told of her—whose names include the Green Lady, the Lady of the Wood, or the Lady In White—and her love-affairs with mortal men.

GEOGRAPHY

On the coast of the Western Sea is the oldest and wealthiest region, the Western Heartlands. Both the Western and Eastern Heartlands are well watered and rainy, producing abundant crops. To the east is Further Zarubain and the Central Zarube Plain, drier and more extreme in temperature. Further on lie the Eastern Regions whose counties and duchies are self-governing realms in all but name, far from the king’s control. The Kingdom of Zarubain is traditionally defined by the River Zaros and the Dragonteeth Mountains in the north to the River Zarube in the south, and from the Western Sea up to the somewhat nebulous border with Gallian League in the east.

Feymush Fields: a sacred area haunted by the fey. Here, marsh lights draw the unwary into quicksand and tricksters carry away visitors’ belongings. Fey priestesses claim that this is the seat of the Winter Court, and their king, Morgain’diwah.

The “seven gems in the king’s crown” are seven regions in the Western Heartlands, the oldest and wealthiest territories in Zarubain. Though small in size compared to other duchies, they lie upon fertile ground and have benefited disproportionately from Zarubain’s wars, leading to fabulous wealth and resources, and disproportionate power in politics.